Bethesda has done a spectacular job of putting a fighting game into a stragegy format. The controls are simple and easy to pick up with a little practice. The playable races are not too bad, you can play as the Federation, the Breen, the Romulans, the Klingons, and as the Dominion for starters. You are able to unlock more races playable in the skirmish mode as you play the campaigns (SPOILER WARNING) including, but not limited to a second set of federation ships (which has the dreadnought ship as the Soverign class!!!) and the Xindi. You can also unlock more maps as you go. Downsides: First, the obvious: you cannot play as the Borg in the campain mode, which makes a little sense...but it still sucks! Second, the lack of storyline makes for a nearly thoughtless game. (Plot: Alliances have been broken, and everybody is out to dominate the galaxy. Period.) Third, there is a small flaw in the Federation ships... they have the Defiant calss ship as your scout, the Intrepid class as your cruiser, and the GALAXY class as your dreadnought! If we're following the timeline, the Soverign class should be the dreadnought... Also, the fact that you cannot repair things can take a big chunk out of your funds. When you replace something, you don't even get credit for what you're replacing, either. There are also a few minor inconsistencies in the special weapons. One of the biggest drawbacks: no tutorial. At all. If you want to master the controls, read the manual and use the skirmish mode to stack the odds in your favor and get a handle on the controls. Also, there is no 2-player mode... Upsides: The simulated battle and instant battle features are great for the lazy, but if you really want to win, you need to learn the arcade fighting. (TIP: When fighting, use the defensive stance to keep all your ships close to you. This way, you can gang up on other ships one at a time, instead of the opposite.) Once you get a lot of planets and resources, you're able to win a lot faster, and maybe even have some fun with the enemy. The history behind each planet is also fun to read. Conclusion: Pretty good game, despite it's many flaws. The gameplay makes up for the lack of storyline and the initial cluelessness you get from not having a tutorial. If you're going to get this game, make sure it has a manual! If you want the interactivity (which makes it a lot of fun) then get it for the Wii. Do not get this game if you are not a patient person!

As a fan of RTS, you'd find this game entertaining enough at the start. . .however it quickly de-evolves into simply taking over sectors, planting mining stations (which generate credits to build more ships and stations) and the occasional science research station to create special weapons, and attacking the enemy. The game had a unique idea of adding a flight sim aspect to it, however it took both myself and A TRAINED PILOT, about an hour to get the hang of the controls, just so we could see the attacking fleet (most of the combat was off screen, with the typical red arrow indicators showing roughly where the enemy was). We (taking turns) decided to take the simulator path, as it went quicker (figure about 30min to an hour to play and beat the game) and became more cerebral. On the whole it's a decent game, especially if you're a fan (which I admit I am only a mild fan- when the Xini popped up, I asked "who?") but if you were the type of player that figured out the basic strategy in Starcraft (i.e. mine the hell out of the planet, and put up a wall of your best troops) you'll find the game old hat. . .

I had very high hopes for this game. I love strategy war games and I LOVE Star Trek. And it DID prove for an entertaining couple of evenings, but, after conquring the galaxy a couple of times, I got stuck with the "now whats?". First, the ship classification (primarily for the Federation) makes next to no sense. They have the Defient acting as a lightly armed scout, with the Intrepid class acting as the light cruiser, and the Galaxy as the Dreadnaught "HEAVY HITTER". Now I love all three of these ships, but these classifications are a little hard to swallow. Then, if you win a campaign as the Federation, you can unlock three more ships (unfortunatily only available in skirmish mode, not playable in another campaign). You get the Oberth as a scout, the Nebula as a light cruiser, and the Soverign as the Dreadnaught. I really feel like sombody made a goof here. Wouldn't the Oberth, Nebula, and Galaxy then the Intrepid, Defient, and Soverign made more sense? Anyway not to knock the game to much, fighting the battles arcade style vs sim style was the main saviing grace here. There is nothing quite like leading your fleet in a close formation, opening up on the defenders, and utterly reaking havoc. Not enough of that out there in the Star Trek games for my taste. I would recommend this game as an on sale or second hand purchase, but would have a hard time paying full price. If your not looking for to much in the role playing aspect or the storyline, and just want to vent some frustration for a few hours, I think you'll like it.

I cant rate this game yet as it has not been released in the UK yet which im angry about i only have two questions about the game which other federation ships can you unlock and what other game maps can be unlocked

I bought this game for £20 a week ago, £20 I now want back. This game is very poor as it is extremely repetative with take a system, build stuff, take another system etc etc etc. Ship to ship combat in arcade mode is bad as well due to the power systems option that were in both Legacy and Encounters being removed so that when you lost shields in 1 area they do not recharge. After 20 mins of playing I put it back in the box and got out Legacy instead. I would advise everone to avoid this like the plague

Bought it on a whim and gave it a shot. periodically go back to it because it feels like playing the game Risk with starships instead. The campaign takes quite some time, especially if you arcade out every battle, but can keep you entertained for a few hours. My best strategy was always build the scout class vessels (federation and klingon only. the other races don't work quite as well with this). Defiant class for the federation and birds of prey for the klingons. you make 7 with your attack commander set to the attack formation and just strafe your enemies repeatedly. 7 small ships ca wipe out everything once you get the hang of it. unfortunately you also run out of fun once you have the trick. its more fun to play on the Wii than on the Playstation. Get it for an amusing game to kill a couple hours. There really is no story and no ending really worth the time you put into getting to it. beautiful backgrounds though.